The journey of the only child of a peasant family to take the imperial examination

"What? Mom, you sold all the land?" Boss Zhang said with his eyes wide open. Although he was ready to go together, he planned to rent out the land, which was at least a way out.

Zhang Laosan also pinched his eyebrows when he heard this, but didn't say anything.

Zhang glanced at her eldest son calmly and said, "Don't be surprised. The price of the land is quite fair. Only with money can we have confidence. I won't take this money from you. I will keep thirty taels as retirement funds for me and your father. The rest will be divided among you according to the way the family was divided."

After saying that, he took the bundle and divided the money.

Although Zhang Lao Da and Zhang Lao San were angry, they were stunned when they saw the bag of silver. They had never seen so much silver in their lives.

Zhang Laoer seemed relatively calm because his family had a huge amount of silver bills.

Zhang divided the silver among her sons according to the number of acres of land they had divided up. Seeing the smiles on the eldest and third sons' faces, she gave them a final word: "Don't keep this silver on your own. It's best to sew a secret pocket inside each of your family members' clothes to put some money in, and hide it separately. In case we get separated later, they'll have some money to rely on."

Zhang Lao Da and Zhang Lao San both nodded and replied, "Got it, Mom!"

Because they have to leave tomorrow morning, the women in the family are busy preparing dry food, mainly pancakes, fried rice, fried soybeans, and some pickles.

After Zhang Laoer came out of his mother's bedroom, he found that the eldest son of the Liu family had come over and was talking to his son in the main room.

"Uncle Zhang," Brother Liu said as he stood up. "I just told Ping An that my family will leave with you tomorrow morning."

"Okay, are you and your whole family coming together?" asked Zhang Laoer.

Brother Liu shook his head and sighed, "My second and third uncles' families, as well as my grandparents, all refused to leave. But this is fine. After all, we can't predict what will happen in the future. My grandparents can still be at home with my second and third uncles taking care of them, so I feel at ease. If they leave with my family, they will definitely have to sleep outdoors."

"Have you disposed of all the family business?"

"My family doesn't have much land, but our fish and lotus ponds are valuable. We haven't sold the land, so we've left a way out. We sold the fish in the pond at a low price and got some cash," said Brother Liu, shaking his head. He then stood up and said goodbye. "Uncle Zhang, I won't talk any more for now. I have to go back and pack up!"

"Let's go back," Zhang Laoer nodded.

After everyone left, Zhang Laoer followed his son back to the room and hid the silver.

Looking at the familiar bricks and tiles of his home, Zhang Laoer was filled with emotion: "I used to think I was destined to die in Zhangjia Village. Life is so unpredictable!"

"The world will eventually get better. We can come back when things are stable," Zhang Ping'an said with a smile.

"I don't know when that happened. By the way, there's also the daughter's red wine that the store gave you when you took the exam. Hey, do you think I should dig it up and take it with me?" Zhang Laoer suddenly thought of it.

"It's inconvenient to carry it on the road, and it's easy to break. Let's put it at home. As soon as we leave, someone will definitely climb over the wall to dig it out. Why don't you bury it somewhere else?" Zhang Pingan suggested after thinking for a while.

Zhang Laoer waved his hand: "Forget it, I won't take it!"

He then revealed a profound expression, "They couldn't find it even if they dug. I later secretly dug it out in the middle of the night and found a new place to bury it. Good things are easily coveted. I understand this principle. If I can't come back in the future, then you can find time to come back and dig it up. Anyway, my grandson is still nowhere to be found, and it's still a long time for him to take the exam!"

"Dad, you are very smart," Zhang Pingan raised his eyebrows.

Zhang Laoer smiled innocently and said nothing.

We worked until midnight that night before we could rest. When it was time to leave, we couldn't bear to leave anything behind at home and wanted to take everything with us. The car was almost full.

The most unexpected thing was that after dark, Dazhu came back with a big blue mule in its prime, which also came with a cart frame. The price was not cheap at first glance. After asking, I found out that it was Zhang who asked him to buy it. When they set off tomorrow, the old couple would follow Dazhu and his wife in one cart.

This was destined to be a sleepless night. Everyone woke up early the next morning with dark circles under their eyes.

Zhang Ping'an was surrounded in the study by several female relatives in the family. They all wanted him to help write a letter and ask someone to take it to her parents' home when she got to the town. Zhang Ping'an explained the situation and wrote four or five letters.

The pancakes I had for breakfast were simple and filling.

Before daybreak, Brother Liu's family and Erya's family drove over to meet up. Jinbao's family arrived soon after. Each family had a mule cart, which was quite convenient.

Seeing that his family was ready, Zhang Ping'an prepared to set off.

Fortunately, the family was well off and each family had a car. Dazhu and his wife followed Zhang and Old Man Zhang, Li and his wife followed Erzhu's family in an ox cart, and the Ma family had three cars, which was relatively more convenient and could carry the most things.

Zhang Laoer bought a large cart frame that was 90% new from someone else yesterday. It was made of pine wood and was very sturdy. He carried clothes, bedding, dry food, pens, inkstones, and books on the cart. There was just enough space for several people in his family to sit on it.

The Zhang family had a total of six cars, plus the three cars of the Liu family and the Jinbao family, a total of nine cars, which was very eye-catching. What's more, the cars were full of things. Zhang specifically instructed that a canopy must be installed, and a piece of rag to cover it would also be helpful.

The so-called awning is made by tying strong bamboo poles around the frame and the roof, and then covering it with rags of linen or oil paper and tying it tightly, which can slightly protect against wind and rain.

The group set off quietly. With a lantern hanging in front of the car, they could barely see the road. Liu Ya asked in confusion, "It's so dangerous to travel in the dark. Why don't you wait until daybreak?"

"It would be too conspicuous if we were to walk together. The villagers are all from the same clan, and we don't know when we can leave if we keep talking about this and that. Besides, we have to prevent some people from getting jealous and doing bad things. It's best to walk quietly. We are all familiar with this road to the town, so we just need to walk slowly. Don't worry, it will be dawn soon," Zhang Ping'an explained with a smile.

"Oh, I understand," Liu Ya nodded and understood a little.

"When your uncle Daqiang finds out we snuck away at daybreak, he'll probably be so pissed he'll jump up and down," Zhang Laoer said with a helpless smile.

"Our feet are on our own legs, who can stop us from walking?" Xu disagreed.

There were a lot of things on the bus and it was moving slowly, so it was already light when we arrived in town.

The group drove towards the back door of Liu the Butcher's house. When they arrived, Zhang Ping'an jumped out of the car first and knocked on the door.

There were the sounds of footsteps in the yard. It was Daya who opened the door. After seeing everyone, she breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I've been waiting for you to come. The house is all cleaned up!"